


Fletching

by Vesania94



Series: Aria: Shorts from Skyhold [4]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Archery, Babysitting, Lessons, Other, Parent-Child Relationship, Sera is vaguely responsible?, how to make arrows, sera babysits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 08:56:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7708846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vesania94/pseuds/Vesania94
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sera has Bean-sitting duty, and shows her something useful.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fletching

Lily focused carefully on the shaft of wood that sat before her in the tiny stand, sifting through feathers as Sera helped her pick the straightest ones, setting them against a guide to check their size.

“So, Beans, you have to find good stiff ones. But, you also gotta make sure they’re a good color so you can find them again,” the elf instructed, picking up one of her own fletched arrows, showing her the bright green paint that had been used to dye the feathers, wrapped tightly around the arrow shaft with bright red thread. Lily nodded and picked out a handful of goose feathers.

“I kinda like the white. It’s pretty and soft like clouds!”

“Well, you can pick a color later if you want. Now, what color are you going to use for the thread?”

“Umm… Black. There’s a lot of it, so I can make a bunch of arrows to stick people with!”

Sera nodded and went to twisting the feathers around the arrow shaft, securing them at the end with a small dot of pinetar. She passed the arrow to Lily, who ran her fingers along the feathers, marveling at the efficiency the elf put into making them, her small room above the tavern floor holding sheaves and sheaves of them, all painted bright green.

Snow glittered outside the windows, stained pink and orange by the setting sun. It was warm inside the tavern as they worked well past the evening call, Lily finally managing to fletch one that wasn’t horribly mangled at the end.

“There you go! Now, do another. Practice makes perfect.”

“Sera, where’d you learn to do this?” Lily asked, twisting the string around the feathers.

“Well, you pick stuff up when you’re on your own, yeah? Found loads of arrows when it was just me, and they all needed repairing. Sure it ain’t the proper way to make ‘em, but mine fly straighter than anyone else’s,” Sera laughed, holding the arrow steady, before picking it up and tipping it quickly, passing it to Lily. “Now, let’s see how straight yours go!”

Sera opened the window, and Lily clambored up onto the seat, clutching her bow to her as Sera led her out onto the icy roof, pointing to one of the targets next to the barn.

“Hit that one.”

“But Sera, it’s to far!”

“Pfft, no it ain’t. You just gotta trust that you can. Actually, hang on a tick.” The elf disappeared back into her room and brought out her own bow. “Try this.”

“It’s too big!” Lily whined, standing next to the bow, which was as tall as she was.

“Well fine, if you can’t do it…” Sera said, motioning to take the bow back. Lily set her mouth in a line and set an arrow on the string, pulling back and drawing a smile to Sera’s face. “Breathe, Beans. Focus on it, and then pow! Hit the bastard.”

The bowstring twanged, and the arrow fell short, landing harmlessly in the courtyard. Lily pouted, her eyes growing a little wet as she solemnly handed the bow back to Sera, who smiled and pushed it back into her hand.

“Try again.”

Sera stepped behind the little girl and helped her square her shoulders off, positioning her so she could get a clear shot at the target.

“That there, is Coryphy-butt,” she whispered to the girl, who was focusing on the tiny red dot in the middle of the target. “He took your Mum, he took your home, he took your Da, and he’s tryin’ to do it again. He’s right there, just itching for one of your little arrows to plunge right into his creepy-ass Fade head!”

The bowstring twanged again, and the arrow flew straight and true towards the target, slamming into it and impaling itself into the wood of the barn behind it.

“That’s my Bean!” Sera yelled, whooping and dancing about, nearly slipping off the roof. “We’ll get you into the Jennies yet!”

“Sera? Where’s Lily?”

The pair froze with a giggle as they hurried back into the room, hiding arrows and fletching stand, sitting in the middle of the plush carpet as Sera quickly handed Lily a deck of cards, snapping and shuffling her own as the door opened, showing a breathless and pink-faced Inquisitor, holding a white arrow. “Have you been firing arrows out of your window again, Sera?” she asked, wiggling the arrow through the air. “You know how the troops hate that. They’re getting sick of picking through your fallen imaginary enemies during morning roll call.”

“It’s not mine, Quizzy, I swear. All of mine are green,” Sera shrugged, pulling out one of the many sheaves of arrows she kept stashed under her bed, gesturing towards the brightly colored fletching.

“Mmhm. And it wouldn’t be anyone else’s, would it?” Grace asked with a small smile, glancing at Lily, who was trying to shuffled the cards in the snapping, flashy fashion that Josephine had showed her once.

“Sera’s been playing cards with me Mama!” Lily smiled sweetly, brandishing the deck proudly.

“She’s been teaching you to cheat, is what you mean!” Grace laughed, kneeling down at her daughter’s level. “Come on, darling. It’s bedtime. Say goodnight, and we’ll get you tucked into bed.”

Lily nodded, crawling into the Inquisitor’s arms. Sera winked at her as they walked out the door, a smile gracing her lips as the gruff and sleep-thickened voice of Blackwall filled the tavern below.

“Maker’s balls, Sera! What have you been doing to the target on the barn? You damn near shattered it!”


End file.
